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Ireland/London trip

We're planning a trip to Ireland leaving May 12. We'll be staying with friends in Killarney for the first 5 days, stay in Dublin for 3 days, then travel to London for 4 days.

Here's my question. What is the best way to approach the travel? We will initially fly into Dublin, then out of Dublin to London. Is it wise to return to Dublin and connect for the trip back to the US or go directly home from London?

Also can we book the flight from Dublin to London with the same airline or use a different airline?

I would fly home from London. Why backtrack when you don't have to.
I am going to Ireland and England this summer and flying into Dublin and home from Heathrow.
YOu can check with your airline to see if you can fly with them Dublin to London or there are plenty of small carriers who do that flight.

No-one flies directly US-Dublin, Dublin-London and London-US. As far as I'm aware, only Aer Lingus flies from Chicago to Ireland

Aer Lingus will sell you a ticket Chicago-Dublin, Dublin-London, London-Chicago: you just change planes (and go through US immigration) in Dublin on the way back. Since you don't then need to go through immigration on arrival in Chicago, many people find this indirect route actually more convenient

The likelihood is that this will be the cheapest option, though this depends on what offers others are making. Any booking engine will show you what alternative routings are on offer for the days you want to travel.

No "small carriers" fly between London and Dublin, apart from Aer Lingus. The only other operators from Dublin to any of London's six airports are Ryanair (by a substantial margin, the world's largest international airline), Air France and BA.

I would think your best option would be to fly open jaw (multi-city) from the US to Shannon or Dublin and then from London back to the US. Use whatever carrier you want (e.g. Aer Lingus) for the short hop from Dublin to London (there won't be a one-way penalty on Aer Lingus, for example).

Why fly Dublin to London?? You can fly Cork or Shannon to London then back London to Dublin for your Departure. I would say Kerry to London but that restricts your options. Remember that the Baggage allowance on the regional flights will be a determining factor.